NHL and the NHL Shield are registered trademarks and NHL Mobile name and logo, NHL GameCenter and Unlimited NHL are trademarks of the National Hockey League. NHL and NHL team marks are the property of the NHL and its teams.

Wild aim to make it 3-0 against Preds

Tuesday, 01.22.2013 / 10:42 AM

Season series: This is the first of three matchups between the teams. The Predators took three of four from the Wild in 2011-12, with two of those victories coming via the shootout.

Big story: Minnesota is off to the start it was hoping for after signing Zach Parise and Ryan Suter, the two biggest prizes on the free-agent market last summer.

Team scope:

Predators: Nashville is winless in its first two games of the 2012-13 season, but not all is lost. With back-to-back shootout losses, the Predators have been able to collect points in what is primed to be a heated race to the Stanley Cup Playoffs throughout this 48-game regular season.

"We haven't been beaten in a game," Predators coach Barry Trotz said after Monday’s 4-3 shootout loss to St. Louis at Bridgestone Arena. "We've been beaten in a little bit of a skills competition. At the same time, it's huge, especially the extra points in the League right now. If you can get them in the shootout, let's take them.”

Wild: Minnesota made it back-to-back victories with Sunday’s 1-0 win against the Dallas Stars at Xcel Energy Center. Josh Harding, who is battling multiple sclerosis, stopped all 24 shots he faced to help Parise’s first goal as a member of the Wild stand up as the game-winner.

"I can't thank the team enough for having my back, they made some great plays and played great out there," Harding said. "It was a long time coming. It's been a tough couple months here, but this made it all worth it."

Who’s hot: Preds winger Patric Hornqvist has a goal and three assists and Martin Erat has a goal and two assists for Nashville. … Parise has a goal and two assists in his first two games with Minnesota, while sniper Dany Heatley has a pair of tallies and an assist.

Injury report: Gabriel Bourque is day-to-day for Nashville with a lower-body injury. … Minnesota is expected to be without defensemen Jonas Brodin (upper body) and Marco Scandella (groin) until around the end of the month.

NHL and the NHL Shield are registered trademarks and NHL Mobile name and logo, NHL GameCenter and Unlimited NHL are trademarks of the National Hockey League. NHL and NHL team marks are the property of the NHL and its teams.